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Janitor arrested in school computer theft

A janitor has been arrested for stealing three laptops from the Boys Latin Charter School in West Philadelphia.

A janitor has been arrested for stealing three laptops from the Boys Latin Charter School in West Philadelphia.

Officials at the school, on Cedar Avenue near 55th Street, called police shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday and reported that school surveillance footage showed the janitor, Reginald Hawk, stealing the devices from a computer lab, according to police records.

Hawk, 43, who works for a maintenance company that cleans Philadelphia schools, was filmed walking into the lab with an empty blue school bag. When he walked out, the bag appeared to be heavier, according to the records.

Investigators searched Hawk's house, on Salford Street near Race, and found a Dell laptop and an Acer laptop. A school employee identified the computers as the ones that had been reported missing.

A .32-caliber "blank gun" loaded with six live blank rounds was also found inside his property.

Hawk told detectives that he stole the laptops with the intention of selling them, according to the records.

He is expected to face theft and related offenses.